Rand Tower Hotel

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Rand Tower
now a Marriott Hotel
527 Marquette Avenue

Architects: Holobird and Root, 1929
On National Register of Historic Places

No building typifies the Jazz Age better than a skyscraper, and while some skyscrapers were built to resemble Renaissance palazzos, this one, like New York’s Empire State Building and Chrysler Building, are examples of the Moderne style. Chicago architects Holabird and Root emphasized the building’s verticality by recessing the window bays between limestone piers that run nearly the full height of the building. Richly decorated dark metal spandrels fill the spaces between the windows and contrast with the limestone, giving the illusion of a continuous vertical band of fenestration. The outside corners are anchored by blocky piers with inset windows. The whole structure is capped by stepped-back levels that recall a Pre-Columbian pyramid.

The building was commissioned by Rufus Rand, a local tycoon who had flown in the famous Lafayette Escadrille during the First World War. Accordingly, the facade and lobby are decorated with ornament celebrating aviation technology, including the sculpture, “Wings” in the lobby by Norwegian-American Oskar J. W. Hansen.

This building served as prime office space until recently, when it was converted to a luxury hotel. Other downtown Moderne structures also have been converted to hotels, including the Farmers and Mechanics Bank and the Foshay Tower. These conversions employ nostalgia to attract customers. They also vindicate preservationists who advocate for adaptive reuse – something worth remembering next time a historic building is hanging in the balance.